Somehow it’s always America that makes the news at the Italian Open. In Cervia, at the Adriatic Golf Club, on the eve there was a lot of talk about Patrick Reed, the US super champion who had become a star-striped symbol in the Ryder Cup so much so as to be nicknamed Captain America, and who is certainly the most powerful player in history personal – he won the Masters in 2018 – and for ability among all those present at the Open. At the end of the first round the cover had gone to Andrea Pavan, Roman, very Italian, but who moved to the States for love many years ago. He married the beautiful Audra, they had three children and live happily in Lucas, Texas. He was in the lead on Thursday. Yesterday, however, another American stole the show, Gunner Wiebe, much less famous than Reed, but still capable of taking two rounds well under par into the clubhouse (64, 69 for a total of -9). Wiebe is a son of art – father Mark won twice on the PGA Tour – and is an honest navigator of the lower parts of the DPWorld Tour rankings. He is 35 years old, born in Colorado, and has played almost everywhere without ever winning . We can see that the air of Romagna inspires him, we will find out whether he will really be able to make a change in his somewhat anonymous career, today and tomorrow.
A bit of bad luck And the Italians? Let’s start with the total number: 20 of them started, nine of them passed the cut – which fell to -1. Before talking about disappointment, we must remember that a year ago, at the Marco Simone in Rome, three out of sixteen of them reached the weekend. So we can – moderately – celebrate. Pavan, the best on Thursday, slowed down yesterday, but not only because of him. He closed with a +2 for the day which means a ninth place overall at -5 (64, 73). “I know I played a bit less well than Thursday, but not that bad. I played better than the result says, I had a bit of bad luck on the 9th and 17th and I paid for certain situations”. The 9th was especially painful: a drive a bit open to the right, the ball falling just under the trees in a place where the grass is low and there are a lot of people, but it mysteriously disappears and no one can find it anymore. Pavan paid with two lost shots, the very ones that ultimately distanced him from the top of the rankings. “The wind was blowing quite a bit and it was a bit difficult to understand. But anything is still possible. The course is defending itself very well, we are all there and no one is running away. Anything can happen”. With the same score as Pavan is Edoardo Molinari, the real Italian surprise of the day. Dodo finished two weeks ago in Holland in 29th place, his best placement of 2024. In Cervia he played a solid round with 4 birdies and only one bogey that improved on Thursday’s score (69, 68). It’s a period in which he is playing well even if the results are not coming. On the eve he had many doubts about the difficulty of the course, but after two laps he also has to admit that the Adriatic is proving to be tough: “I played quite well on an even more difficult course than the first round. The flags were hidden, difficult to catch, I think mine was a really good lap. Now I’m ready for the weekend and I’ll give my all to get the best possible result”.
comebacks and disappointments
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Matteo Manassero and Guido Migliozzi, the two Italians who will participate in the Paris Games at the beginning of August, will also play this weekend. Their result was important, they always attract the public and can accomplish the feat at any time, as Migliozzi demonstrated last week by winning in Holland. Manassero closed in par for the day (68, 71) with two birdies and two bogeys: “But mine was a flat round only as far as the score was concerned, for the rest it was a tough fight. The course was not easy, the wind was changing, the flags were in difficult positions, I found myself in difficulty maybe even after a few good shots. It was a tiring round”. Migliozzi recovered after the difficulties of Thursday (71, 70) and saved himself by a whisker. Better Filippo Celli who at a certain point dreamed but was held back by a bad double bogey on the 7th: “But I’m still very happy, a few wrong shots cost me dearly in both rounds. I’m very positive about the weekend. Golf is a game of patience, in bad moments you have to have a lot of it and think positively”. Disappointment instead for Francesco Laporta, sixth on Thursday and out of the cut yesterday. When it goes badly, it goes badly. It happens.
